The Election Commission of India has told the Supreme Court it passed a "well-reasoned" order recognising the Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led faction as the real Shiv Sena and allotting to it the original 'bow and arrow' symbol in its quasi-judicial capacity.
The Supreme Court on Monday sought the responses of Ajit Pawar and his 40 MLAs on a plea moved by the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party challenging Maharashtra assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar's decision declaring the group led by the deputy chief minister as the real NCP.
Maharashtra Opposition leader Ajit Pawar, who belongs to Nationalist Congress Party, on Saturday said Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) are trustworthy and the system cannot be manipulated by a single person.
Raut said Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra, a mass contact initiative underway from September 7, is getting a massive response because he is 'focussing on love and compassion'.
The former Union minister also said the people in Maharashtra are looking for a change.
'We have been threatened. We have felt violated.' 'Everything is in danger if you don't give safe spaces to women.'
Thackeray said let there be elections to make it clear whether people support him on the rebel faction.
In her now-deleted post, Mohamed said Sharma is "fat for a sportsman". "Need to lose weight! And of course the most unimpressive Captain India has ever had!" she said.
Shiv Sena member of Parliament Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party was using central agencies to topple the Maharashtra government by targeting the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders and their family members.
Raut said he will meet Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the coming days.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday asserted his rebellion was not an act of "betrayal", but a "revolt" and asked Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray to kneel down at party founder Bal Thackeray's memorial and apologise for going against his ideals and aligning with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
The PM said the Congress and its allies should not encourage the "Pakistan agenda" and speak the language of separatists.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) of Uddhav Thackeray has denounced in the Supreme Court the "highly improper" meeting between Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and state legislative assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar, barely three days before the deadline set by the apex court for the latter to decide cross-petitions filed by rival Sena factions seeking disqualification of several of each other's MLAs.
Does Uddhav (and indeed the Sena) have the pizzazz and staying power to continue to be an actor in Maharashtra politics as a paler version of the NCP and an orange rather than saffron version of the BJP, asks Aditi Phadnis.
'I am trying to make the political system more answerable to the people.'
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said he has clarified his stand on the Election Commission's decision to recognise Eknath Shinde-led faction as the real 'Shiv Sena' and allocation of the 'bow and arrow' poll symbol to it, and will not get involved in the controversy over it.
The speaker had, in an order on January 10, declared the Shiv Sena bloc led by Shinde as the 'real political party' after its split in June 2022.
Kayande claimed she waited for a year to see if the Thackeray-led faction would introspect over why party workers were leaving Shiv Sena-UBT.
In a lengthy statement on X late Monday night, a defiant Kamra said those busy leaking his number on social media or calling him incessantly should know that it all goes to his voicemail where they will be subjected to "the very song" that they hate.
He said the purpose of Gandhi's Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir is to remove the hatred and fear and not to unite the opposition parties under the banner of his party.
'Our fight is against his political masters, the BJP and Devendra Fadnavis.'
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kirit Somaiya has come under opposition fire over a purported video of the former MP that showed him in a compromising position, even as Maharashtra deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday promised a detailed probe into the matter.
The EOW stated in its closure report that it did not see any criminality or wrongdoing in the matter, adding that the bank in question did not suffer any losses in the process of sanctioning loans or selling the Jarandeshwar Sugar Mill.
The Badlapur school, where two young girls were allegedly sexually abused, preferred to cover up the crime instead of helping their parents file a police complaint, said Susieben Shah, chairperson of Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, on Wednesday.
'I am simply highlighting a wrongdoing. This is why my complaint has merit, and the chief minister has ordered an inquiry.'
The chargesheet against the associate of Shiv Sena-UBT MP Sanjay Raut was submitted before the court's registry and it will come up before the special judge for cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after scrutiny of papers.
India's opposition parties have sharply criticized the Union Budget, calling it inadequate to address the country's economic woes and accusing the BJP-led government of using it to woo voters in Bihar and Delhi ahead of upcoming elections. Leaders from the Congress, TMC, DMK, SP, and CPI(M) voiced their disapproval, highlighting concerns over inflation, unemployment, and the lack of substantial measures to support the agricultural sector and the poor. They also criticized the tax cuts for the middle class as insufficient and coming too late after years of high taxes and rising prices.
Several opposition parties have claimed that the mandate of 2024 Lok Sabha elections was against the ruling haratiya Janata Party, even though it was able to form the government with support of other parties.
Rohit Pawar further claimed "four-five" leaders around Ajit Pawar were trying to project the latter as the "villain" and putting all the blame for the party's split on him.
"She (Latke) is your (BMC) employee...You should be helping her out," the court said.
Bawankule said that the BJP has always respected Matoshri (Uddhav Thackeray's home) and its legacy.
'When Fadnavis takes our help, it was sabka saath.' 'But when we support his rival, the latter is branded as appeasing Muslims.'
Deepak Kesarkar, a Sena MLA and spokesperson for the rebel faction headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, sought to know what Pawar gained by causing pain to Bal Thackeray.
Without naming the BJP, Raut said those who want to grab power can do so but the future will belong to Shiv Sena.
Convert the Haryana result into a blessing in disguise; make the calamity into an opportunity. Maharashtra was always the big ticket game in town; MVA must win it. The Congress should shift headquarters to Mumbai for the entire month. Show urgency and a hunger to win, asserts Sanjay Jha.
The verdict will be delivered by a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud.
The Uddhav Thackeray faction on Monday approached the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the Election Commission recognising the Eknath Shinde-led bloc as the real Shiv Sena and allotting the 'bow and arrow' poll symbol to it.
The Congress continued its losing spree on Saturday posting its worst-ever show in Maharashtra and ending up a distant junior partner to the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in Jharkhand, further diminishing its role in the opposition bloc as other allies perform better.
Raut's statement comes a day after Pawar, during an interview with a media house in Pune, responded to a query on his chief ministerial ambitions by saying "yes, I would 100 per cent like to be (CM)".
